As I type this we are actually way up north (in Queensland, at Port Douglas). Yesterday we flew from the outback (Ayers Rock airport) to Cairns (pronounced CANS). We arrived after dark and drove to a lovely, plush, lush resort north of there. It’s hot (about 90). It’s humid (probably about 90%) and reminds us of Hawaii. It’s a temperate climate here with the temps never ranging more than about 20 degrees all year ‘round. The room is pleasantly air conditioned, so I’m propped up on the bed, laptop on my lap, looking out our windows toward the lagoon/pool.

But, back to Ayers Rock. Having seen plenty of pictures of it, and heard tales from friends who have been there, I knew what to expect. But it’s so much more than what I’d thought – it’s gigantic. It’s not one clean, slick mound, but has lots of cracks, valleys, fissures in it. It also has some natural springs and almost always there is some water in the waterholes. The rock, called Uluru in the native’s language, is sandstone, but because it contains a lot of iron, it turns from the natural beige color to an ochre red. It’s beautiful, awe-inspiring. And it’s also a sacred place to the aboriginal people. To the men only of the native tribes. And the top of the rock isn’t sacred, it’s places around the rock that are, and the aborigines no longer allow people to go to those areas.

Our first day at the park we took a bus tour of the neighboring mountains – called Kata Tjuta (at the left above). Took a hike around parts of it. Then just near sunset we drove back to Uluru (about 30 minutes or so) and we hopped off our tour bus to join hundreds of other people to watch the sunset. We stood around watching the light change on the rock itself, sipping champagne and eating munchies. It was just gorgeous. It happened that a group of planes (similar to the Blue Angels) were flying all around the rock (being filmed from a hovering helicopter) during our visit there. Six of them buzzed like bees back and forth, up and down, loopdy-loops and all. It was quite spectacular. Give our group a little bit of wine and we hoop it up pretty good – we’re a bit loud and boisterous actually. A large group of Japanese tourists didn’t quite know what to make of us, I’ll tell you!

You see marketing-hype photos of a solitary couple taken with the backdrop of the rock, with lovely shades of sunset and they hope you can picture yourself there. Well, along with thousands of other people, that’s all. We had a great time, though.

The next day we drove right up to the rock and did a hike around part of the base of it. People can still climb Uluru (the aboriginal people don’t like it, but they allow it). However, the climb is quite treacherous and 35 people have died falling off the rock. Both days we were there the climb was closed due to high winds. It was hot and people get easily dehydrated for one thing. But you climb up the same way you come down and everyone says the coming down is the really rough part. It’s very steep. All of us in our group were almost relieved it was closed, so we couldn’t do the climb. Dave and I hadn’t planned to do it anyway. That’s it for this post. More later.

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That probably doesn’t look all that interesting. But to the people who live in the Australian outback, seeing near solid greenery is monumental since they’re just coming out of a 7-year drought. I also took this photo to include some of the red sand (not dirt, but sand) that is unique to this part of the outback. Made a bit of a mess of my black sneakers. Our guide, Marilyn, remarked numerous times during our day-long bus journey in the outback, what a marvel it was to see the land in bloom and green. We saw lots of blooming wildflowers in brilliant reds and yellows. We saw grasses, shrubs and leafing trees – all of the in the blue-green, gray-green and light green color spectrums. Not dark or bright greens. This is mostly desert terrain and plants and shrubs or trees don’t come in those colors out here.

We saw lots of colorful birds, all varieties I’d never heard of before. Like a crested pigeon – pigeons are  nothing but a pest at home – and maybe they are here too – but they’re cute as bugs with a quail-like topknot atop their heads. There are lots of wild parrots in this region, and lorikeets – so cute! Can you tell I enjoy seeing and talking about animals?

And since I know you’re all interested to hear about what I have been eating . . . for breakfast all the hotels have a fairly standard menu buffet: scrambled eggs (they’re gross, IMHO), maybe hard poached eggs if we’re lucky, bacon (like Canadian bacon), sausages (salty and containing fillers), breads of several types, canned baked beans, cooked mushrooms, shredded potatoes, canned fruit (peaches and pears), yogurt, muesli if we’re lucky, dry cereal, toast, coffee, tea and juice. Lunches have varied. Sometimes there’s plenty of options like club sandwiches, quiche, pizza, hamburgers, maybe salads. Soft drinks like a 12-ounce diet coke are about $3.50 each. Maybe more. 

Dinners have also given us the gamut. Restaurants in the big cities have had great food. We had a super Indian meal the other night in Adelaide. Dave likes the kangaroo meat (me not so much, too gamey tasting). Emu meat is the same. Chicken is expensive – more than lamb. Have had lamb shanks, lamb roast, lamb chops. Have had delicious meat pies (beef, beef & mushroom, chicken and veggie). Have had salad drenched in gross Miracle Whip type dressing. Have had salads that are overloaded with huge chunks of cucumber and unripe tomatoes. Dinners have ranged from about $22-35 apiece, sometimes with nothing but a plate of meat. No veggies, or maybe a mound of mashed potatoes or some wedge potatoes. One night we had a $12 (each) dinner. They were out of spaghetti Bolognese, so I ordered carbonara. It was really rich – too rich to eat almost – with mushrooms, bacon (more of the morning Canadian bacon kind of stuff) and cream.  Dave ordered pizza. He could hardly eat it – it was mostly sausage, ground beef, salami slices, kalamata olives (which didn’t seem to fit the pizza type in my opinion). Dave ate about 2 pieces and left the rest.

Our tour group is much fun. All people about our age. Everyone enjoys wine, so we occasionally have a 5 pm happy hour. One couple went out and bought cheese and crackers. We all bought numerous bottles of wine at the Barossa Valley during a day-long winery tour and have been carrying those bottles around. Here in Australia you can carry wine on board flights (in your carryon) with no difficulty. We hope to take home a few bottles when we fly home from New Zealand.

The hotel rooms have electric kettles and tea bags and instant coffee. Most rooms have mini-fridges and they include some little containers of pasteurized milk for your tea. Mostly the Aussies drink something like English Breakfast tea. Coffee not so much. Some hotel dining rooms don’t brew coffee, but provide diners with instant. Ugh. Although I must say, some of the instant here is better than we get at home. The food in the outback hasn’t been all that good. We get by all right, just nothing to write about!

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When I have time I’ll need to write a post about this place – a cattle station with cattle and camels. I have several more good photos to upload about this outpost – we stopped there for lunch and listened to the owner – a bush man – they call him – tell us how he settled in the outback in 1956 and the hard and harsh life he and his family have led way out in the middle of nowhere.

Camels were brought to Australia a long time ago, but once they had outlived their usefulness (when the British Army wanted horses to send to India, not camels) the people in the outback who were caring for the camels couldn’t kill them (although they were told to); instead, they let them go. So now there are thousands of feral camels in the outback. Camels survive just fine, apparently. But there was a large group of them at this cattle station that are used for the tourists to take camel rides. We didn’t take a ride because we both did that when we were in Turkey in 1997.

Internet service is scarce in this country. I suppose if I lived here I’d have broadband, but as a visitor, I must rely on the hotels we’re staying in. Some have it; a few do not. Most often they have one or maybe two computer terminals in the lobby and they can be used for 10 minute increments for about $2.00. I could connect and just upload a paragraph of text, but no photos. To be able to connect MY computer (so I can upload photos)  is ridiculously expensive. So I’ve only done that once so far on this trip. I think I’ll be able to connect where we are – we’re actually at Ayers Rock as I type this and will have lots or stories to tell and photos to share at some point. The photo at top was taken at the cattle station that’s about half way between Alice Springs and Ayers Rock. And it deserves its own post because it was so interesting. Here’s one more photo from there:

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We’re in rainy Adelaide and I’m using a hotel computer, so I can’t upload any of the wonderful pictures I have. Will do that whenever I can. We spent all day yesterday visiting wineries in the Barossa Valley, outside Adelaide. Wow. So gorgeous everywhere. Maybe like it was in California’s Napa Valley back in the 1950’s. Mostly red wine. Had one from a tiny family-run winery called Villa Tinto that has stood next to Penfold’s Grange wine and experts couldn’t tell the difference between their wine and Penfold’s. And that was just $18 a bottle. We bought two! We have five bottles wrapped in clothing in our luggage – we’ll have to drink at least one. They don’t export their wine, unfortunately.

We’re having a wonderful visit in Australia. We’re on a tour – did I mention that? – through OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel). Sixteen of us (maximum number on any tour). Today we’re flying to Alice Springs and will visit a flying doctor facility in the outback, as well as one of those outback stations too. I’ll be taking plenty of photos; I just can’t upload them, and may not have access to a computer for several days now. So far the food has been fantastic. I tasted kangaroo (they call it ‘roo here), but didn’t much care for it. My DH thinks it’s wonderful. Chicken is on menus, but it’s almost a delicacy and more expensive than the lamb. Lamb is the #1 entree item here, understandably. We saw wild kangaroos yesterday and one young male koala sitting in a tree right next to the road. We woke him up, but he wasn’t frightened of us. We didn’t touch him. I took a photo, though it was raining, so don’t know if it will come out very well.

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There are some Tasmanian Devils – or Tassie Devils as they’re called here. There are three of them above, fighting over a piece of raw meat and bone. This was in a wildlife sanctuary (where they rescue orphaned or injured native animals and hopefully raise them to the point they can be released in the wild again). These guys are naturally ferocious sounding – they growl and snarl even at one another – although our guide told us they’re mostly all bluff and no bite. But they do have extremely strong and sharp teeth. They eat carrion, usually after other larger animals have killed the animal and eaten most of the soft stuff, so these devils have to chew and swallow minimal meat but lots of bone. Hence the strong jaws and sharp teeth. It’s rare to see Tassie devils in the wild. Unfortunately the devils have been beset by a contagious cancer (spread by contact) and are endangered now. In several places in Tasmania they’re raising  lots of them (where they will have no contact with contaminated ones) in the event the cancer affects all the ones in the wild. They call it devil insurance.

As the story goes, when early British soldiers came across the sea they discovered Tasmania and came into the beaches somewhere and set up an overnight tent. During the night the Tassie devils came around and as they are wont to do in the middle of the night as they’re eating, they fight over it, and they sound much larger than they are. The soldiers were terrified. They decided the island was inhabited by devils, and as soon as daylight came, they left in a hurry, telling the tale that the island was filled with devils.

At the same wildlife park, koalas are rescued as well, usually because their mothers were hit by cars and the babies survived. We were able to pet this one gently on his backside. Never their heads. Koalas generally don’t like anyone to touch their heads. We learned that koalas are actually quite dumb (they have very small brains). And as the saying goes, if you’ve seen them eat and scratch, you’ve seen the extent of their activity. They sleep 20 hours a day and spend the remaining four eating eucalyptus leaves with occasional scratching.

So far we’ve been blessed with splendid weather. Cold, but clear and sunny. We did have rain one day, but it only lasted a very short time. We visited Port Arthur, the convict camp where the first white settlers came and set up a a prison for the hundreds of British felons who were sent here. I need to write up a complete post just about that. Not today, though.

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Was this what you might have expected Tasmania to look like? Honestly,  I don’t know what I thought it would be like, but the above picture wasn’t it. The above  was about 30 or more miles from Hobart (the largest city, the furthest south city) near Port Arthur.

That shot was taken in central Tasmania, and is very representative of the scenery.

We’ve had almost no access to the internet, so I haven’t been able to blog or send email. We also haven’t had hardly a moment’s time to do so, either. The tour we’re on is VERY active, with almost no down time. As I write this it’s just a bit past 5 am and after sleeping 8 hours, I’m ready to be up. So I’m typing this in mostly darkness except for the lit computer screen. My DH is still asleep. We’re presently in Launceston (pronounced lawn-cess-ton) in northern Tasmania. A typical small city. We’re staying at a very nice hotel in the downtown area, with easy access to shopping and walking. We’ve walked our little fannies off so far (and Dave, with his artificial legs, has done just fine!)  I’m hoping to sign up for a day’s worth of internet access today, so I’ll be able to post this and maybe send some email as well. We have a free afternoon here. The food has been fantastic (oodles of fish everywhere) – also an unexpected surprise. Last night I ordered chicken to the tune of $28.50 for my dinner. Obviously chicken is not common. Dave ordered lamb and it was cheaper! We’ve seen tens of thousands of sheep everywhere we’ve been so that’s not a surprise.

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Since we’re about to leave on an extended trip, I won’t be able to do any cooking or baking at all. (I’m setting this up to post while we’re en route.) New crop fall apples are available now and when I saw the recipe for an apple cake, it just spoke to me. With four Granny Smith apples on hand, I whipped it together. The recipe is from the 10/2010 issue of Southern Living and the dozens of people who had already made it had written good reports. I’m learning – that when I make something from a magazine article (published within the last few years anyway) I should go online and see if other people have blogged about it, and if the magazine has an interactive site, to see if readers have left favorable comments. Generally, I do this BEFORE I make the dish. I should do it before I ever even decide to make it (like before I buy specific ingredients!). Read the rest of this entry »

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(This post was written a week or so ago and I’ve set it up to post while we’re en route to Australia. At least you’ll get this one recipe during the next many weeks we’re traveling.) Recently I bought a new batch of frozen meat and fish from our home-delivery meat guy. This time he had boxes of orange roughy, a fish I haven’t seen much lately. I’ve always liked orange roughy, and I’ve read that through conservation fishing methods at least it’s still available – some. It’s a deep water fish in the perch family. Anyway, I gladly bought a box. It was easy to figure out what to do with it – I opened up Phillis Carey’s cookbook and found just the ticket. Quick and easy, and full of taste, even if I had to alter the recipe a little bit.

Read the rest of this entry »

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As this is posting on my blog we will have already arrived in Australia for a 4-week tour including New Zealand. After a 16-hour flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne, we have a layover for awhile, then get on yet another plane to fly to Hobart, Tasmania where we start our tour. Hopefully I’ll have wi-fi in some of the places we’ll stay so I can post a few pictures. We’ve never been to Australia or New Zealand, even though we’re relatively seasoned travelers.  There’s a 16-18 hour time difference from California, so we’ll be in serious jet lag, no doubt. More as soon as I can . . .

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Well, if lemon isn’t one of your favorite things, then forget this post. But if your taste buds sing when you encounter lemon, then this recipe’s for you. Creamy. Smooth. Tart. Sweet. Everything with lemon. My DH hasn’t had this yet (the little piece above and the recipe came from a cooking class I attended, with Phillis Carey a few weeks ago), but when he does he’ll swoon. Do men swoon? Probably not. But he’ll be all over this little piece of heaven since he loves cheesecake and he loves lemon too.

There are only eight ingredients in this little number: graham crackers, butter, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, zest, eggs and prepared lemon curd. It’s not all that hard to make, and a 9×9 pan will make 16 (small) servings. You don’t want a lot since it’s rich, sweet, tart. First you make the graham cracker bottom crust and press it in the pan. Then you make the cheesecake part in a food processor and that gets poured over the crumbs. It’s baked for about 40 minutes. Once out of the oven you spread the lemon curd over the top, let it cool to room temp, then chill it for at least 5 hours or overnight if you can make this a day ahead. You could also make this in a springform pan and cut small wedges. Either way. . . delicious, that’s all I have to say about it. Serve to 16 friends, or better yet to 14 good friends, saving the last two slices for yourselves as leftovers.

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A year ago: Shrimp with Creamy Grits
Two years ago: Baked Eggs with Chorizo and Cannellini Beans
Three years ago: Chicken Breasts with Garlic Lemon Crust

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